fancies in color

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Wed, 28 Nov 2012 10:43:51 -0500

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Sun, 18 Nov 2012 21:03:10 -0500

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Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:39:45 -0500

Video

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 18:29:00 -0500

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Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:48:00 -0400

nybg: Hip hip hooray! It’s Ada Lovelace Day! As a woman sitting...

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:41:05 -0400

Ada Lovelace, aka Lady Ada King, Countess of Lovelace

Elizabeth Gertrude Knight Britton

nybg:

Hip hip hooray! It’s Ada Lovelace Day!

As a woman sitting at the intersection of computing and science I have deep respect for Ada Lovelace. Who is Ada? She is widely understood to be the world’s first computer programmer, way back in the 19th century. She was also the daughter of the poet Lord Byron. Because her mother feared Ada would inherit some of her father’s “artistic” temperament, she pushed the young Ada to study the natural world and the science and math behind it. In 1833 Ada was introduced to mathematician Charles Babbage. It was under Babbage’s tutelage that Ada developed an article which contained several computer programs. These notes remained theoretical until they served as inspiration for Alan Turing’s work on the first modern computers in the 1940s.

Okay, so now you know who Ada Lovelace is, but why am I yammering on about her? Because Ada Lovelace is inspirational, she should stand at the head of the class for any woman—young, old, or in the middle—who hopes to leave her mark on this world in science, technology, engineering, or math. Ada, in my mind, is right up there with Elizabeth Britton, co-founder of The New York Botanical Garden as a true inspiration. Elizabeth was a scientist and teacher. She was an early advocate for the planting of native plants in order to maintain healthy ecosystems. She traveled around the world, wrote hundreds of scientific papers, described new genera and species, and was the only woman amongst the 25 charter members of the Botanical Society of America.

Both Ada and Elizabeth set out to blaze their own trails, societal norms be damned! Do you know a girl or young woman struggling to hold her own in the STEM fields? Tell her about Ada, tell her about Elizabeth, and tell her to keep going. The world needs more women pushing these boundaries and more role models like Ada and Elizabeth. ~AR

designcloud: Apex Predator Shoe by Mariana Fantich and Dominic...

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:37:36 -0400

designcloud:

Apex Predator Shoe by Mariana Fantich and Dominic Young

British artists Mariana Fantich and Dominic Young have re-interpreted the classic Oxford shoe by replacing the rubber soles with 1,050 teeth dentures. The “Apex Predator Shoe” visually addresses the parallels between social evolution and evolution in the natural world. Nature as model or nature as a threat. These shoes are designed for predators with no predators of their own, residing at the top of their food chain.

treehugger: © Richard Shilling Yesterday, Jaymi’s lovely apple...

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:29:26 -0400

treehugger:

© Richard Shilling

Yesterday, Jaymi’s lovely apple harvest photo got me thinking about this piece by Richard Shilling, which is part of his Land Art collection. Much of Shilling’s work is simple, but profound, finding beauty and form in nature. I’m always drawn to these sort of chromatic spectrum sculptures, whether they be made with a series of fall leaves or multi-colored carrots or Shilling’s apples. In every case, they remind me of the wondrous variety found in nature.

(via Photo of the Day: Richard Shilling’s Apples : TreeHugger)

climateadaptation: How climate deniers (‘skeptics’ is a...

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:22:00 -0400

climateadaptation:

How climate deniers (‘skeptics’ is a misnomer I believe) see climate change evidence vs. how realists see it. For an explanation of the escalator graph, visit Skeptical Science. Skeptical Science has a ton of Climate 101 articles. They’re easy to read, are well sourced, and written by authorities in the field.

Photo

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:21:13 -0400

Visual Evolution of Logos

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 18:51:25 -0400

Visual Evolution of Logos

Yale Sustainability Report 2011

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 18:29:10 -0400

Yale Sustainability Report 2011

GHG Reduction Plan and Progress (Without Growth)

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 18:24:00 -0400

GHG Reduction Plan and Progress (Without Growth)

From http://brown.edu/Facilities/Facilities_Management/docs/susta...

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 11:18:13 -0400

From http://brown.edu/Facilities/Facilities_Management/docs/sustainability_report_2011_final.pdf

Update

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 03:46:49 -0400

Met with Energy and Environmental Programs Office. First things first, fixing the following graphs on pages 9 and 10 of the sustainability report describing our carbon reduction goals and achievements since 2007: http://brown.edu/Facilities/Facilities_Management/docs/sustainability_report_2011_final.pdf

Goal: show that we are really good at reaching our carbon reduction goals

also, project on complex systems, such as dorm heating or how recycling works on campus.

Photo

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:26:00 -0400

treehugger: © Bernard Pras Artist Creates Iconic Masterpieces...

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 01:24:54 -0400

treehugger:

© Bernard Pras

Artist Creates Iconic Masterpieces with Garbage

ilovecharts: Africa mapped: how Europe drew a continent

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 01:24:39 -0400

ilovecharts:

Africa mapped: how Europe drew a continent

treehugger: Artist’s Complex “Technological Mandalas” Are Made...

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 01:22:29 -0400

treehugger:

Artist’s Complex “Technological Mandalas” Are Made From Recycled Computer Parts

Steps for recycling different materials

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 01:09:44 -0400

Steel:

Recycling bin
Transported to facility
Separated with magnet
Compressed in bales
Tin coating removed
Heated/melted
Cooled/hardened

Aluminum:

Recycling bin
Compressed into bales
Processing plant
Shredded
Heated/melted
Poured into blocks/rods and cooled - ingots
Ingots heated and rolled into flat sheets to make new cans

Plastic:

Recycling bin
Sorted by resin type, molding process
Compressed into bales
Processing plant
Washed
Shredded into flakes/pellets
Melted into new plastics

Glass:

Recycling bin
Processing plant
Optical machines sort glass by color
Class broken into small pieces (cullet)
Contaminants removed
Cullet combined with new silica sand, soda ash, limestone
Heated until melts

http://www.maine.gov/spo/recycle/residents/whathappenstorecyclables.htm